After Happily Ever
by PrincessTutu51116
Summary: After the And they all lived happily ever after, what's next for the great Howl and Sophie.


Sophie Pendragon stood in the one of the outside gardens of the castle folding the laundry. Or at least trying to. She might have stood a better chance if Markel and Heen weren't running about her feet. But that's what they were doing, and she continued to try to fold the laundry courageously.

'How is it that Grandmother can sleep with all this going on?' Sophie asked herself. But she sat in the corner, the little, wrinkled old lady that used to be the feared Witch of the Waste, snoring a little. Sophie had brought Grandmother into the little, strange family that she had with Howl.

'Where is Howl anyways? He usually comes out by this point to tell Markel to study.' Indeed, Howl forever had to tell Markel to return to his studies of magic ever since Heen joined the family. 'I suppose that any young boy loves dogs, but Howl really wants Markel to learn.'

But Markel was playing with child-like abandon. Nothing else mattered to him than his game of tag with Heen. Sophie smiled at the picture that they made. Not just Markel and Heen, but also herself and Grandmother. The only thing that could complete the picture was…

As if that thought had conjured him, Howl appeared at the door. Sophie smiled at his own boy like smile. Having the heart of a child caused him to have several boy-like qualities. That made the moments that he was a complete grown-up all the more special.

"Markel, come on. You have to study, and Sophie can't possibly continue with you underfoot."

"But Master Howl…" Markel whined. He was probably hoping that Sophie might stand up for him if he sounded sad. But that wasn't going to work today. Sophie had a lot to do today, and the laundry was at the beginning of the very long list. What Markel didn't know was that Howl knew Sophie's list and was trying to keep the young boy out of her way.

After a few more minutes of whining, Markel went to his studies, Heen settled under Grandmothers chair and Sophie continued her chores. That night, everyone was seated around the table and enjoying a very fine dinner. Markel showed off a new trick he had learned that afternoon, Heen begged for food, and Grandmother stared at Calcifer. Sophie managed to wrangle Markel into helping her clear off the table and washing the dishes.

That night Sophie fell asleep in Howl's arms to the whirring and ticking of the many things in the bedroom. All was quiet, even Calcifer fell asleep. Then there was a sudden wind. It burst all the doors open, and blew shrilly through every room. Calcifer found it very hard to not go out in the wind. And when all was quiet again, the most heart-rending scream flooded through the castle, "Sophie!"

Sophie struggled to awaken, but her eye-lids felt as if they were weighed down by five ton weights. It was hard to move, hard to breath, it was even difficult to think. That scared Sophie more than anything else. She had always been able to think her way out of any situation, and to not be able to scared her terribly.

Out of the shadows around her, a man appeared. Old, gray and bent, he had a cruel smile on his face. "So, you're the one that saved our prince. You were never properly thanked. Something that I will work to correct. You'll love being a princess."

His hands, held out over her body, began to glow. She knew the feeling of a spell being cast; you couldn't live with Howl for months and not know that feeling. But what scared her was that all the protective spells that Howl had placed on her, didn't seem to be doing any good.

Before Sophie fell into uncertain darkness, her mind screamed one name. "Howl!"

"She's not responding well. And she sees someone in her dreams, probably that wizard the prince mentioned." Sophie heard things, though they seemed to be coming from another room. And she couldn't really see anything as if she was looking through a veil.

Sophie fed herself and kept herself clean, but even she was aware that she couldn't make conversation. As little as possible, she was trying to break out of the prison that they had made of her mind. Only in her dreams could she escape.

And if it wasn't for the small connection that she had with Calcifer she would have been lost long ago. As it was, she had no idea where she was or how she had gotten there. Every night she spoke to Calcifer and begged Howl to save her. She was losing her grasp on herself.

"It won't be long now and we can present her to the prince." They were talking about a prince again. Sophie vaguely remembered a prince. Hadn't he been a scarecrow? Yes, Turnip Head. But he was kind. He wouldn't kidnap her and remove her will, would he?

That night, Sophie ran in her dreams to the light that was Calcifer. It wasn't as far as last night. "Calcifer. Please help me. I can't hold on."

"You have to, Sophie. We're almost there, I know it. And Howl can break the spell soon."

"Let me talk to him, please." Sophie knew that that would take a lot of energy, but just hearing his voice helped often.

"Sophie?" It was him. That wonderful voice sounded worried. Sophie almost cried with joy to hear it though.

"Howl? I'm here, Howl."

"Sophie," relief flooded his voice. "When we're close enough, I'll break the spell. You act like it still has you, and then we'll get you out of there."

"Howl, where am I exactly?" Sophie almost didn't ask the question. If it happened to be in Turnip head's kingdom, then he had kidnapped her. If not, then he hadn't. When Howl remained silent Sophie asked again, "Howl, were am I?"

"Your in Prince Todd's kingdom." Sophie wanted to cry. She had thought that he was a friend, but friends don't kidnap each other and try to magic them to forget the person that they loved.

Sophie felt herself being pulled back to her body, but before she left, she called out, "Howl, I love you."

If she had any free will, she would have awakened with tears in her eyes. But being nothing more than a life-size doll, her eyes were dry. And that hurt more than anything that these people had done to her so far.

Howl had taken up the habit of pacing in front of the fire-place, which was why Calcifer was getting very short tempered. Howl didn't seem to care about anything but getting to Prince Todd's palace. Not that Calcifer blamed him, but couldn't he just sit for five minutes. Pacing would not make the castle fly any faster. If it did, Calcifer would have everyone pacing.

Markel and Heen hadn't been outside to play since Sophie disappeared. Without Sophie, nothing was fun and parts of the garden had started to die. It wasn't so much that Sophie had been gone for a long time; a week wasn't long enough for everything to start dying from inattention. It was because Howl's magic had been keeping them from dying even in winter. Without Sophie, Howl didn't see any reason to try keeping the forest alive when all that magic could go into the castle to make it fly faster to their destination. Markel and Heen's only entertainment was to watch Howl pace.

Grandmother sat in a very comfortable chair that Sophie had convinced Howl to create for her. Sophie was a sweet child who could have blamed Grandmother for many things, but only thanked her. Sophie's reasoning was that without the curse, she wouldn't have met, let alone fell in love with, Howl. For this reason, Grandmother sat, watching as Howl wore a hole in the floor, and simply tried to reason out what magic had been able to yank Sophie from not only the castle but also Howl's arms. There was only one way that anyone could do that. Several wizards had to combine to do that. Suleiman had tried and failed, and she was the only one who had a chance of getting around Howl's defenses. Confidant that she had found a solution, Grandmother dozed off.

Sophie was both joyful and depressed. She had her mind back, and though acting like a doll was a bit demeaning, the wizards didn't seem to notice any change in her. At the same time, a man she had thought of as a friend had betrayed her and she felt like she would never trust anyone outside of Howl's castle ever again.

It is a sad fact that long ago, a woman was nothing more than a large ornament for her man. If he was rich or poor, his woman, for women were nothing more than property, would reflect his status. It is also sad to say that in this kingdom, that was still practiced.

Sophie was surprised to find herself being primped and pampered. She was also amazed to find out that Prince Todd, who would always be Turnip Head to her, had no idea that she was in his kingdom, let alone his castle. 'This place isn't much of a castle.' Sophie thought to herself. 'Howls is much nicer and more interesting. You always now which door opens to which hall and nothing changes.'

Sophie had discovered something else when she came back to herself. She only hoped that Howl would rescue her soon so that she could tell him the wonderful news. But today, Sophie was to be presented to the prince. She was squeezed into a dress that no real woman could fit into, and she only got into it because of a horrible contraption that was called a corset. Other than the fact that anyone with hips couldn't wear the thing, it was a rather pretty dress.

It was a light blue satin with darker blue silk sleeves. The skirt billowed out and hid her feet in it's folds. The terrible people said horrible things about her hair. Howl had always said that it looked like starlight and felt like strands of silk. These people said that her hair looked old and was course. They also didn't like it's length. 'I'd like to see how well your hair grows back after a fire demon takes it off.' But being the complacent doll she was, she only made small sounds when they tied it back and covered it with a wig.

The wizards, there were five that had stolen her from her bed, came to her after the maids had finished dressing her. Now she felt even more like a doll, dressed up and about to be paraded out before people like a horse. The old bent wizard led her down corridors, and Sophie wondered how anyone could stand to live in this boring palace. Back home, she could walk down one flight of stairs and turn a corner that used to led to the kitchen, and she might find herself in the lower garden or standing on the widow walk. Everything here was simply to normal and boring.

The wizards led her out to a garden were many well dressed people were lightly chatting away. But, as Sophie looked around, she saw some bare places and dying flowers. 'Howl would never let that happen in our garden.' Sophie looked out the corner of her eyes and noticed that the ladies were all…dolls. Like Sophie, except that they still had there minds and perhaps that was worse. Each one was dressed in an exact way, and they never strayed from the arms of the men they were with. They barely talked to each other.

Sophie thought that she might just be sick. She had been so caught up watching other people that she didn't realize that they were standing before the prince. The old wizard was blathering about finding her, and hoping that she might replace his true love. 'Found me? Oh yes, you found me in Howl's castle in his bed. What am I, a penny on the side of the road?' She realized as the two men talked, that was exactly what she was.

Howl would never treat her like this. Why would she want to live in a boring castle, trapped; only allowed to go out when her husband decided that his people should see her? She already hated this life, and the prince hadn't even agreed to take her yet.

"If it will still your tongue old man, I shall accompany her today." The prince was saying.

"It will make her most happy, wouldn't it dear?" Was that a question for her, or was he just asking to be a pain?

As the old man directed her arm to the prince, Sophie began to panic. She didn't want to be here. The corset was making it hard to breath, the skirt didn't let her move much at all, and she wanted to get away. 'So run. Honestly, Sophie, since when were you a little girl who couldn't help herself?' Never. Even when cursed she had not just sat and cried about it, she had taken action. And now was the best time for action as she felt Calcifer down the connection that they still had. He was close.

That was all Sophie needed along with her own inner pep-talk. She brought her foot down on the instep of the old wizard's foot, wrenched her hand away, pulled off her wig and ran. She could hear people calling to her, or specifically the prince calling to her. But she ignored them all. 'It's hard to run when you can barely breath.' She realized as her breath came to her in gasps long before her energy should have given out.

As she felt herself fall, she looked up to see, there in the clouds, the castle. She would know that outline anywhere. The large wings were flapping double time, and though it might have been her imagination, she almost thought that she could hear Markel calling her and Heen barking.

But they wouldn't make it in time, for as she lay looking up at the descending castle, she felt hands grab her and pull her to her feet. She struggled against the prince, who had reached her first. She heard him talking, but she didn't even try to make out the words. Instead she struggled against his grip, twisting and squirming so that he might let her go.

"Howl!" She was screaming to the castle, it seemed like that was the only thing to do. "Howl, help me!"

She was being dragged now towards that horrible, boring palace, and was kicking and screaming for Howl. That was when a fierce wind blew, knocking everyone back. Sophie stood in that gale, the only one that could it seemed. And then she felt familiar arms wrap around her waist.

"Sophie, did they starve you?" Howl asked. But he asked in that child-like fashion that he knew he could get away with and smiled at her.

"Oh Howl. I wish that was all that they did." The castle touched down, breaking the wall around the palace. "Howl, do you know how boring this place is? Nothing changes, you can't get anywhere just by thinking about it, and there are no secret passages."

"That does sound boring." Howl answered.

"Sophie, can we have a party with a cake?" Markel yelled from one of the balconies. Heen barked his opinion next to the boy.

Sophie yelled back, "Of course we can. And I'll make it layered with cream in-between each layer. How does that sound?"

"Great. Come on Sophie."

The guards had arrived, and though Sophie had walked on air once before, it had been awhile. And it was much harder in this dress. "Howl."

"Hmm?"

"Could you make this dress different so I can breath?"

Howl laughed. As they walked, Sophie could feel the dress changing and by the time they were on the balcony that Markel had waved to them from, the dress was allowing Sophie to breath. That was until Markel hugged Sophie. She felt the air leave her, but she loved those hugs from him.

Howl was looking down at the assembled guards, and spotted the wizards that had kidnapped his love. He didn't have to think to hard, it didn't even cause him to be tired. He simply sealed their powers. "I'm afraid, Prince, that your wizards will be useless to you from now on. You must understand, they kidnapped my wife, and therefore, they have broken vows. Their lucky that I don't demand their lives." He didn't sound angry, but his eyes flashed. Sophie had seen this before, he was very angry, and not even Sophie could calm him. She simply hoped that no one caused trouble. "Well, I suppose that I should thank you for showing me were my defenses were weak. But if I ever catch any of your people messing in our lives, the time you spent as a scarecrow will seem like heaven."

"Calcifer, take us out of here." Sophie cried. With a familiar wrench, the castle lifted into the air. The last thing Sophie saw of the court was everyone huddled in one corner of the garden. All except for the prince, who stood looking up a Sophie with sad eyes and Sophie couldn't even feel pity for him this time.

Months passed quietly, and Sophie found comfort in the different twists that the castle offered her. Sophie was folding laundry in the garden, well trying to anyways. Markel was playing tag with Heen, running around Sophie and sometimes almost pulling what she was folding out of her hands. But she laughed whenever that happened.

Grandmother was napping, chin to chest, a book in her lap. Her head moved up and down with her chest, and she occasionally murmured something. A small bird had decided that she was safe and was cocking it's head at her from the arms of the chair.

There were two additions to this lovely picture. Sitting next to a little pink basinet and peeking into it occasionally was Howl. He was acting like his book was interesting, but at the slightest movement from within, he would drop the book and petted the soft head of the baby within.

It had been quite an event when little Rose had arrived. Howl was beside himself with worry for both mother and child, and Calcifer had to remind him that babies didn't arrive faster if the fathers paced. Of course, Howl hadn't paid much attention. Grandmother had been the one to deliver Rose. Markel had been so nervous that he hadn't been able to perform even the simplest of spells. And Heen, picking up on all the nervousness, had taken to running in circles.

When Rose had arrived, Howl had been the proudest man and the most nervous about holding her. But now, he was concerned about her and anything to do with her. Once Sophie finished with the laundry, she picked up the basket. "Come on everyone. It's lunch time."

And with that, the strange family of The Great Wizard Howl, the fire demon Calcifer, the Witch of the Waste, Markel the apprentice, Heen the magic dog, Sophie the starlight haired woman, and the newest member, baby Rose, went within the castle and enjoyed lunch together.


End file.
